Fourth Grade: Hassle-Free Homework and Children's Learning Styles

Since your child has entered fourth grade, you've probably noticed a difference in the amount and type of homework he brings home. This homework extends your child's learning beyond the classroom.

How Can I Help My Child With Homework?

Help your child develop a time clock. Children should be given time to unwind when they first get home from school or the child care provider. Sometimes after-school activities prevent doing any homework until after dinner. You and your child can determine when to set "homework time." You can help your child learn to include homework in her routine when you:

• Review your child's day.
• Preview the homework.
• Help your child review the assignments and estimate the time needed to complete each subject.
• Break large jobs into small steps. Have her do three math problems first before tackling the rest of the math assignment.
• Show her how to do things rather than doing them for her.
• Answer questions.
• Offer help only after your child has tried alone.
• Allow time for breaks.
• Establish a study area or place to do homework.
• Establish a routine. Homework should be done at the same time each day.
• Locate homework supplies in a specific area such as a desk or hall closet. Place the contents of a homework survival kit in a box or storage container that can easily be placed on a desk, table or floor.

Homework Survival Kit

pencils - pens - colored pencils - crayons - markers - pencil sharpener - erasers - glue or glue sticks - tape - writing paper - construction paper - hole punch - stapler - scissors - paper clips - white out - assignment book - folders for reports - index cards - intermediate dictionary - atlas - thesaurus - almanac - rubber bands

Learning Styles

Some children learn best by seeing (visual learners), some by hearing (auditory learners), some through movement and doing (kinesthetic learners). Most children are talented in one or two but not all three areas. Each child in your family will have his own learning style.

Material should be presented in a variety of ways to accommodate students' different learning styles. For example, if new spelling words are presented by calling out the letters, visual learners are not able to "picture" the word. If, however, they are printed on a blackboard in addition to being said aloud, visual learners see the way the word looks so they remember it more easily. Kinesthetic learners might have to manipulate blocks with letters to "make" the word before they can remember it.

Visual Learning

Spelling and math often come easily for visual learners because they can "see" the word or problem. They are generally neat and care about how things look. They learn by watching and will call up images from the past when trying to remember. They use visual imaging to picture the way things will look. Help them make mental pictures in their heads and use visual words to describe shape, form, color or size. Visual learners enjoy movies, museums, charts, maps and graphs. Encourage them to imagine what things look like. This will increase their ability to remember.